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NGC Certifies Discovery Specimen of New Buffalo Nickel Variety

Submitted to NGC at the recent Houston Money Show of the Southwest was a newly-discovered variety of the 1926 Philadelphia Mint nickel. It’s actually two varieties, as both the obverse and reverse display doubled-dies. Since both dies were previously unrecorded, this coin has been certified by NGC as the Discovery Specimen.

1926 5 Cent VarietyClick images to enlarge.

The obverse features dual impressions of LIBERTY so pronounced that it’s amazing this variety hasn’t been spotted before now. Lesser doubling is seen on E PLURIBUS UNUM as well, though the secondary impression is more subtle and easily could be missed on a worn coin. The Discovery Specimen certified by NGC grades a pleasing MS 63 and is from early die states of both obverse and reverse.

Click images to enlarge.

The new variety was spotted by Texas coin dealer Tim Hargis and then confirmed by variety authorities Michael Ellis and Dr. James Wiles. It was assigned CONECA Master Listing numbers by Wiles of DDO-002 and DDR-002, and NGC has labeled this die pairing as VP-001 under its VarietyPlus® numbering system.